Two sisters, two urban gardens, and a question: How much of our families' food can we produce ourselves?
Moving toward sustainability on urban farms

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Pancakes and Pests

My children would eat pancakes every day, if allowed. Since real maple syrup runs almost $18 for 32 ounces here, we have Pancake Day once a week, on Saturday. (There is also Waffle Wednesday, so I don't think they're too deprived.) And one thing that has made my breakfast sweets-making easier is aerosol oil. Pastry brushes are all well and good, but a quick squirt of oil and the pancakes and waffles are easily released from griddle and maker, respectively.

But that's not all! And thus begins the infomercial.

A couple of years ago, the Anna apple tree became infested with black aphids covered with white fuzz. They made galls on the stems, and I tried all sorts of discouragement, but finally hit on one that worked.

Last week, I found another round of fuzz:

Since this was concentrated on damaged parts of the bark and flower clusters, I assume it's somewhat fungus-related. Still, I'm trying my first line of defense:

That's right -- the ever-versatile spray oil. A quick squirt:

And the white fuzz disappears.

Time will tell if it works as well as it did on the last round of fuzzy menace. If you have a small tree that's infested with anything that oil will smother (aphids and scale come to mind) this is easier than making up a sprayer of horticultural oil.

Ah yes spray oil out in the garden. I might have to try that someday, but with seven fruit trees being planted this year I'm thinking it might be easier to mix something up than use a can. I guess it all depends upon how much you have.